Take Back My Life

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Take Back My Life

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Musings, raw refections, advocacy, healing and examining according to my moral compass My name is Briana Beaver, and I'm taking back my life!

I have been overcoming extreme and extraordinary obstacles since my birth. An hour after I was born, I died. I was resuscitated, but the event left me with permanent brain damage, resulting in Cerebral Palsy. When I was 9 years old, I mysteriously started to experience health problems that included gastrointestinal, pulmonary, metabolic, and neurological symptoms. But I never let this stop me. I pursued my passions, and did my best to live a normal life. I graduated high school in 3 years, and in 2011 I graduated from Chico State, Summa Cum Laude, with a degree in Sociology. It was then that my health became even worse. The pain became horrifically intense. I had extreme sensory overload, so that every stimulus - sight, sound, and smell - everything caused pain. I was so mysteriously debilitated that I was unable to eat or drink. By summer 2012 I was in Stanford Hospital, wasted away to 75 lbs. The pain was so torturous that I welcomed the thought of death. In December of 2014, my medical mystery was finally given a name: Lyme Disease. Since then, I have undergone an extremely expensive battery of treatments, none of which are covered by insurance. I have improved, but I’m still incredibly medically fragile. I’m currently unable to read for more than 10 minutes at a time, and can’t use a computer or TV for any length at all. I had to dictate this message because I’m unable to write it myself. However, I desperately needed to share how deeply I’m committed to moving forward. It’s time for me to FINALLY take back my life! My family is organizing the Take Back My Life campaign to help pay for the extremely expensive treatments Briana direly needs, but isn’t covered by insurance. For more information on Briana’s journey to health, and to donate toward her treatment, visit:

http://gofund.me/pvpq2k

To better understand the devastating and debilitating symptoms of Lyme Disease, please visit www.lymedisease.org/

10/30/2026

I’m baffled by how much confusion there is around the definition of inclusion.

Starting a nonprofit or program for people with disabilities is NOT inclusion. To the contrary, it’s exclusion.

Starting a nonprofit or program where everybody is welcome and can participate meaningfully on their terms, IS inclusion.

Carry on.

10/29/2026

It’s no big secret that I love bunnies and am a proud bunny mom. What you might not know, though, is that I have a shop, the HOP SHOP, dedicated to cultivating my enthusiasm for all things bunny into original designs for apparel!

This week I’ve been enjoying creating new designs for shirts & sweatshirts to celebrate bunnies galore, available in all styles and sizes.

Maybe you’re looking for some bunny inspired items for yourself or a friend and you don’t even know it!

Shop link below!

10/27/2026

If you’re like me and you’ve been living in Chico for awhile, you’ve probably noticed the Shalom Free Clinic sign on Mangrove at least a few times. My curiosity grew into courage this summer when I decided to stop by to introduce myself and learn more.

From the first summer day that I approached Shalom Free Clinic to my most recent visit this week, I’ve been surrounded in their presence by something unusual; something I almost never experience in a healthcare environment:

Acceptance. Gratitude. Belonging. Love.

Director Nancy Morgans not only demonstrates overflowing kindness and instantaneous compassion with me, but I’ve also had an opportunity to witness her offer this same level of care to everybody who visits the Clinic. With her team of other community members and healthcare professionals, Dr. Ken Logan, Nurse Kelly and company, she’s providing this community with the kind of compassionate and accessible healthcare that is becoming increasingly scarce.

They provide physical and mental health services at no cost with no questions asked. As we roll into the winter, the need for their services will intensify and I would love to invite you to be a part of something special in this community as the holidays approach.

This T-shirt fundraiser is a small token of my boundless appreciation for these wonderful humans I’ve come to call my friends. The good news is, I’m pretty sure you would call them yours as well. Please consider purchasing a T-shirt as part of my fundraiser for this treasured community healthcare gem, Shalom Free Clinic!

100% of proceeds will be donated to help them continue to provide healthcare services at no cost with integrity, love and accessibility.

(Please order early to account for varying shipping times.)

Link in comments!

10/24/2026

This is your friendly reminder from Harper and I to VOTE!

10/23/2026

Care Card win!

Today I saw a new chiropractor after mostly avoiding any kind of new treatment for years on end. Typically, any kind of simulation ends up making me feel worse, so I’ve been largely avoidant.

After hearing great reviews over a period of time about this chiropractor who is outside of the box, creative, attentive and even brings her dog to work as an assistant, I decided to go for it.

I made a personalized Care Card for this visit and… she LOVED IT! She kept it in her lap throughout the entire time, used it as a guide to ask questions, put into practice the details and concerns I had and accommodated my needs. I’m calling this a big WIN!

10/22/2026

You know those thoughts that shake you out of sleep at 2 AM?

Well, then there are the other kind that are already keeping you awake during the wee hours of pre-dawn.

Although I was vaguely aware that I had spent the last year+ attempting to cultivate one-on-one relationships with ER doctors at my local hospital to help not only to share about CC, but also to help myself, struck me hard. One by one, I’ve gently been pushing my fingers to the pulse of a handful of ER doctors to become more human to them.

My semiconscious idea was that if I could share CC with them as a collaborative resource, something intended to help connect providers and patients, maybe, just maybe they would recognize me as more than a chronic occupant of their tiny rooms. Maybe, I could be somebody they could get to know as a person and and vice versa. Maybe building rapport outside of a medical environment could translate to me feeling a little safer inside the medical environment.

That’s a lot of maybes, right?

I had a rude awakening last week that this bread trail of maybe I’ve been stringing myself along just got gobbled up. Honestly, I’ve spent the last week sitting in a corner of self-pity and frustration, feeling like the bridge I’ve been trying to build between providers and patients, just got burned to soot.

“To hell with Care Cards!” I threaten nobody but myself. But I only mean it a little bit.

I suddenly feel embarrassingly, ashamedly naïve for thinking I could befriend people who have made me feel like the enemy with tiny pieces of paper and a passionate vision.

But I also feel proud.

What does it say about the state of healthcare when a patient feels she must take time to personally cultivate relationships with doctors outside of the hospital in order to be treated with dignity inside the hospital?

What kind of burden does the status quo place upon patients to go to such effort to simply be treated with respect in medicine?

What does it mean when these efforts to genuinely build human connection and community are quashed?

It means you’re shaking the bedrock that the infrastructure of inequity stands upon.

It means you’re on the right path.

10/18/2026

A visit to Shalom Free Clinic was exactly what my weary heart and frazzled nerves needed! Always delighted to see me, the ED Nancy met me with a big smile and a hug. Upon producing a new Care Card specified to the Clinic, her eyes filled with tears and gratitude. Moments later I was surrounded with other smiling faces, volunteers and nurses, as well as Dr. Logan— all of whom share what often feels like a rare, authentic motivation to help others by meeting them where they are.

When I told Nancy that visiting them is like my therapy, she tossed back her head with delight and pulled me into another hug.

ALSO! They have Care Cards featured in their window, with available stacks at the check-in desk.

10/18/2026

What would it take for doctors to give up some of their power?

At the core of then dehumanization I’ve often witnessed and heard recounted from others within healthcare, is a significant gap in power between the doctor and the patient. This inequity essentially creates the understanding that the structure of medicine results in the healthcare facility and the doctor having absolute power while the patient has little.

Because this power dynamic has become normative, I think it becomes perceived as a taken-for-granted fact, not a pattern that can or should be changed. If one patient exercises more leadership within his/her/their healthcare decisions and proactively asserts needs and desires, this is often met with hostility instead of appreciation.

In order for a patient to authentically communicate and build relationships with providers that are helpful, I believe the overwhelming belief that the doctor is superior and the patient is subjugated, must change.

So, what would it take for doctors to give up some of their power?

I believe much of the programming around this concept comes from the lack of diversity of subjects taught in medical school. Because it is so heavily based on science, I think students miss out on learning about emotional connectivity, communication skills, social sciences and other humanities topics that would create better rounded perceptions and increase the emotional maturity and intrapersonal skillset of providers.

What do you think?

10/17/2026

MOOD.

I won’t pretend to understand the resistance and hostility that often results from attempting to ensure equality for all, but I won’t be distracted or detoured.

FORWARD.

Address

1010 Mangrove Ave Ste D Chico, California 95926
Chico, CA

Website

https://handsacrosshumanityfdn.home.blog/, https://www.etsy.com/shop/AdvocateLikeUMeanIt?ref=dashboard-header

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